The present invention relates to motor vehicles and to a method for controlling a transmission in a motor vehicle.
Attention has recently focused on vehicle safety problems associated with drivers failing to pay full attention to driving. For example, it is been argued that if a driver attempts to make a phone call or send a text message, the risk of accident is increased. In addition to cell phone use, a driver can also be distracted when it comes time to change a vehicle parameter. Particularly in vehicles capable of driving at a high speed, it is important for the driver to focus attention on the road.
Even changing a gear can distract a driver. For example, to extract maximum performance from the engine, the driver of a manual transmission might want to delay shifting until the engine approaches its rotational speed limit. However, looking down at the tachometer can distract the driver. Moreover, unlike automatic transmissions, a manual transmission will allow the driver to engage a gear that could damage the engine.
Most manual transmissions provide the driver with more tactile feedback. The gear shift activator may be moved through a shift pattern. The driver can feel that first gear is different from fifth year. However, the number of forward gears in a manual transmission is increasing. When there are more possible positions for the gear selector, it is more difficult for the driver to identify with certainty the currently engaged gear. More advanced transmission technologies tend to provide the driver with less manual feedback.
There can also be a distraction problem in a vehicle having a transmission with both automatic and manual modes. This transmission is also referred to as a “manumatic” transmission. In automatic mode, the transmission behaves like a conventional automatic transmission, for example by moving the vehicle forward when in “drive.” In manual mode, the driver can manually choose between the different forward gears of an otherwise automatic transmission. Different manufacturers use different labels for this manual mode. For example, Tiptronic, Geartronic, Touchshift, Sporttronic and clutchless manual all refer to the manual mode. The manual mode allows the driver to have more control of upshifts and downshifts, perhaps improving performance. When in manual (Tiptronic) mode, the driver upshifts by making one gear selection maneuver, and downshifts by making another gear selection maneuver. However, these maneuvers are the same regardless of which gear the driver is shifting from or to. In manual (Tiptronic) mode, the driver can't “feel” which gear is engaged. To know the currently engaged gear before making a shift maneuver, the driver must look away from the road, perhaps at a time when the driver's attention is most needed.
A line-of-sight display is a display within the driver's line-of-sight when the driver is operating the motor vehicle. For example, information might be projected onto the windshield of the vehicle in what's known as a “heads-up display.” A heads-up display is sometimes used to display a map for a vehicle navigation system. A heads-up display has only a limited display area. Adding information to the heads-up display might require removal of other information, such as the map. Rather than increase safety, the lack of the map while displaying other information could cause an accident.